Johnson wins at Auto Club Speedway: #48-Jimmie Johnson won the Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway for his 5th win of the season and 45th of his career. #24-Gordon finished 2nd (for the second race in a row) followed by #42-Montoya (his fourth top 5 in a row), #5-Martin, #14-Stewart (who overcame a speeding penalty and came back from a lap down), #99-Edwards, #6-Ragan, #2-Busch, #33-Bowyer, and #29-Harvick. Other chase driver finishes: #39-Newman 15th, #16-Biffle 20th (was involved in a wreck late in the race and spun through the infield), #83-Vickers (was also involved in the final wreck) 29th, #9-Kahne (also in the final couple accidents) 34th, and #11-Hamlin (in an accident on a restart on lap 189 when he cut down in front of Montoya while leading and hit the front retaining wall) 37th. There were 8 cautions for 30 caution laps, a 21 minute red flag during the last caution, and there were 29 lead changes among 9 drivers.Scheduled Race Re-Airs: ESPN2: Monday, October 12 at 3:00am/et, ESPN Classic: Monday, October 12 at 12:00pm/et, SPEED, Wednesday, October 14 at 12:00pm/et.
For race results, awards and more, see my Auto Club Race Results Page.(10-11-2009)

Top-35 in Owner Points and guaranteed a starting spot at Lowe's Motor Speedway:
No changes, but the spread between 35th and 36th now up to 122 points (was 111)
34) #7-Gordon/Robby Gordon: 2368, +219
35) #34-Andretti/Earnhardt Ganassi: 2271, 122 points ahead of 36ththese teams/drivers must qualify by speed but are close to the top-35:
36) #82-Speed/Red Bull: 2149, 122 points out of 35th
(no other teams are within 500 owners points of 35th)
The teams are NOT locked in past the next race as the owners points change after each race.
(10-11-2009)

NOTE: DRIVERS points and OWNERS points are NOT the same, teams who fail to make the race still get points, while drivers who miss the race get no points

OWNERS CHASE: The Owners championship takes the same format as the drivers championship. Owners have their own Chase, so if a team uses more then one driver and is in the Top 12 after 26 races, that TEAM [not driver] would run for the Chase for the owners championship. The drivers would NOT. This means a driver in the Chase would have a team that is NOT in the chase. Rules on The Chase on my Chase News and Rules page 2009

NOTES II: these points standings are directly from NASCAR Statistics, the unofficial are posted after the race and the official are posted when released, usually sometime Monday afternoon. If they differ from NASCAR.com, take it up with NASCAR.com, I do NOT run that site and have no idea why they would differ, usually with the way penalties are handled, Folks with questions can email NASCAR or NASCAR.com, see my Racing FAQ page this info. Most questions come from folks in Fantasy Leagues, I don't not participate or follow these, ask the person running it how they handles penalties, they should have a rule for such a thing, I do not mediate such things or draft drivers for anyone.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES OWNER LEADERS
LAST RACE DATE: 10/11/2009

RACE RACE #30: AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY PRINTOUT DATE: 10/12/2009

POS CAR# OWNER NAME POINTS STARTS WINS TOP 5 TOP 10 ATTEMPTS

148JEFF GORDON
485728305121930

25MARY HENDRICK
55716305121830

342TERESA EARNHARDT
42567030061630

414MARGARET HAAS
145644304152130

524RICK HENDRICK
245623301142130

62WALTER CZARNECKI
2560730181730

716JACK ROUSH 16554030091430

899JACK ROUSH 99553630071330

911J D GIBBS 115509302111630

1039TONY STEWART
39550530051430

119GEORGE GILLETT, JR
9542230251230

1283DIETRICH
MATESCHITZ 83537730141330

1318JOE GIBBS 18361330481030

1417JOHN HENRY 17359930251030

1533BOBBY GINN, III
33354930041330

1600MICHAEL WALTRIP
0035263015930

1747ROB KAUFFMAN
4732743004730

1831RICHARD CHILDRESS
3131353002630

1907RICHARD CHILDRESS
0731233000330

2020JOE GIBBS 2030423011530

2129RICHARD CHILDRESS
2930323003630

2288RICK HENDRICK
8829373002530

2326GEOFF SMITH
2628773000330

2444GEORGE GILLETT, JR
4428653001430

251TERESA EARNHARDT
128473000330

2677BILL DAVIS 7728073002730

2719GEORGE GILLETT, JR
1928063001430

286JOHN HENRY 626733000230

2943RICHARD PETTY
4326583000130

3012ROGER PENSKE
1226473000030

3196JEFF MOORAD
9625913001130

3298MAX JONES 9825293000030

3355MICHAEL WALTRIP
5525103000130

347ROBBY GORDON 723683001130

3534TERESA EARNHARDT
3422713000030

3682DIETRICH MATESCHITZ 8221492701130

37171KEVIN BUCKLER 17117532900030

3809JAMES FINCH 0915712411230

39187ANDREA NEMECHEK 18713802700030

4078BARNEY VISSER 7812911500016

4166PHIL PARSONS 6612342800030

4236TOMMY BALDWIN 3612052000030

43113BOB GERMAIN 1139791200116

4421GLEN WOOD 219491000010

4537BRAD JENKINS 376411000022

4625RICK HENDRICK 2560760017

4741SHANA MAYFIELD 41478500012

488CHIP GANASSI 84517 0007

4964LARRY GUNSELMAN 64450500017

5028JEFF MOORAD 2832340005

5151DAVID BEAN 5121510008

53175DERRIKE COPE 17514400006

544JERRY MCCLURE 413510003

55106THERESA BOYS 1069100004

5673BARRY HAEFELE 738510005

57127KIRK SHELMERDINE 1277200003

58102KENNETH WOOD 1026210002

59204ROBBY GORDON 2044020003

60135MICHAEL HILLMAN 1353100001

61170KEVIN BUCKLER 1702500001

62157NORM BENNING 157700001

63123ROBERT RICHARDSON 123100001

64146DANIELLE LONG 146-15300002

UNOFFICIAL POINTS that were posted the day of the race
OFFICIAL POINTS WILL be posted sometime the afternoon the next business day, ABOVE
Source: NASCAR Statistics

#18 car too low in post race inspection: UPDATE: #18-Kyle Busch, who missed making the Chase by just eight points, finished 5th in the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. But the left front of the #18 M&M's Toyota was too low in post-race inspection, and he could be penalized by NASCAR this week, usually announced on Tuesday afternoons.(ESPN/Associated Press)(9-20-2009)UPDATE: NASCAR has issued penalties to the #18 team that competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series as a result of a rule infraction found last Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The #18 car was found to be in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-I (any determination by NASCAR officials that the race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20-12.8 1B (the height of the car at the left front fender did not meet the required specification; too low in post-race inspection) of the 2009 NASCAR rule book. Crew chief Steve Addington has been fined $25,000 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31. Driver Kyle Busch and car owner Joe Gibbs have been penalized 25 championship driver and 25 championship owner points, respectively.(NASCAR PR)(9-22-2009)

Truex's car too high at Chicago UPDATE Penalties announced: The #1 Chevy driven by Martin Truex Jr. did not pass a post-race inspection when NASCAR officials discovered the right rear quarter panel was too high on the car. Truex finished 16th in the LifeLock 400 race at Chicagoland Speedway. The car will be taken back to the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C., for further evaluations. NASCAR officials will determine if the height problem is a violation that requires a penalty. Any announcement of the process will come later this week, likely on Tuesday or Wednesday. Similar height situations have resulted in championship point reductions and fines in the past.(ESPN.com)(7-12-2009)UPDATE: NASCAR announced that Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #1 Chevy in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, crew chief Kevin Manion and car owner Teresa Earnhardt have been penalized for rule violations during last weekend’s event at Chicagoland Speedway.
Truex was penalized 25 points in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver standings. Manion was fined $25,000 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31, 2009. Earnhardt was penalized 25 points in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series owner standings. The three were penalized for violating Section 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); Section 12-4-I (any determination by NASCAR officials that the race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules) and Section 20-12.8.1C (right rear quarter panel height did not meet the required specifications; too high in post-race inspection).(NASCAR)(7-14-2009) Comment here

Robby penalized for rear axle: NASCAR has issued penalties to the #7 team that competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series as a result of rules violations committed at Lowe’s Motor Speedway earlier this week. The #7 car, driven and owned by Robby Gordon, was found to be in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4I (any determination by NASCAR Officials that the race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20-10.6H (rear axle housing exceeded the maximum specified toe of plus or minus one degree) of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rule Book. The violation was found during post-race inspection on May 25. As a result, Gordon has been penalized with the loss of 50 championship owner and 50 championship driver points. Crew chief Kirk Almquist has been fined $50,000 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31.(NASCAR PR)(5-27-2009) Comment here

Long's team recieves record penalty: NASCAR has issued penalties, suspensions and fines to the #46 team [#146] in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, as a result of rules infractions committed during last weekend’s event at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The car was found to be in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-I (any determination by NASCAR Officials that the race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20-5.4A (engine exceeded the maximum engine size of 358.000 cubic inch displacement) of the 2009 NASCAR rule book. As a result, crew chief Charles Swing has been fined $200,000, suspended from the next 12 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship events, suspended from NASCAR until Aug. 18 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31. Driver Carl Long and owner Danielle Long have been penalized with the loss of 200 driver and 200 owner points, respectively, suspended from the next 12 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship events, suspended from NASCAR until Aug. 18 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31.(NASCAR)(5-20-2009)